Percy Shaw Jeffrey
Encyclopedia
Percy Shaw Jeffrey, FRGS
(14 March 1862 – 22 February 1952) was a respected schoolmaster and author of several books on a range of topics, including significant contributions towards the teaching of phonetics
in schools. Born in Cheltenham
, Gloucestershire
, United Kingdom
to Thomas Ashby Jeffrey, a chemist, and Mary Helen Jeffrey (née Sparrow), he taught at a variety of schools before spending sixteen years as headmaster at Colchester Royal Grammar School
. With his wife Alice, he retired first to South Africa
, then to the town of Whitby
, North Yorkshire, in 1916, where he spent his time between numerous trips to countries around the world.
, Long Eaton
, where he rose to become "Head of the School, proxime accessit [runner up] for the Duke of Devonshire's Gold Medal, with first-class honours in the Cambridge Local, third in the list in Latin and distinguished in French".
, Wandsworth
, soon after its move to new premises. On 30 January 1884, he matriculated into the University of Oxford
as a member of The Queen's College
, where he completed a Bachelor of Arts Degree in 1887 and was granted his MA in 1890. He was disappointed to receive a degree with only third-class honours, however, and was advised to put any ambition of teaching on hold—advice which he did not follow.
After a brief spell teaching at Christ's College, Finchley, for six months during 1887, Shaw Jeffrey became an assistant mathematics and science master at The Skinners' School
, Royal Tunbridge Wells
, whilst simultaneously studying for an Inter Bachelor of Science
, with first class honours. Whilst at Skinners' he published words he had written for the school song, set to music by Cuthbert H. Cronk, which persist to the present day. Although it was not his initial intention, in 1893 he took up a post as private tutor to a student he had been coaching at The Skinners' School
and travelled to Florida
with him.
Upon his return and owing to a shortage of officers
, a short diversion from his teaching duties during 1893 saw Shaw Jeffrey join the Volunteer battalion of the Royal West Kent Regiment. Unable to afford a new uniform (then costing £80), after a change in regiment apparel to a much more popular red-with-light-blue colour scheme, he was forced to resign his commission later that year.
In 1894 he took up another post, this time to become a holiday modern-languages tutor (a well paid position) to the son of Sir Thomas and Lady Glen-Coats, Thomas Glen-Coats, later to compete at the 1908 Olympics. Putting his schoolmaster plans aside, he travelled with them to France, and the next year to Germany, where both enrolled at the University of Marburg. Once Glen-Coats was "safely... installed at Merton College, Oxford
," Shaw Jeffrey returned to the university to study for a Phil.Doc., but, shortly before completing the degree in 1897, he was persuaded by the Dean
of Queen's College to take up a position at Clifton College
, Bristol
.
Having been an Assistant Master at the Clifton College for three years, he was offered a position as headmaster at a new school which was to be founded in Argentina
by the educationalist Michael Ernest Sadler
, but could not get the funding to travel there, instead he assumed the role of Headmaster at Colchester Royal Grammar School
(known locally as CRGS). It is unclear exactly what date he can be said to have joined the school, because although agreement between the school and the governing legislature was reached in May 1899, the process of finding a new headmaster went on under the guidance of an interim
one. Certainly, his official term as headmaster started on 1 September 1900 and by the end of 1900 he had already made his mark on the school—achievements included the introduction of a new school song, Carmen Colchestriense, which used the same tune as, and a variation of the lyrics for, the school song of The Skinners' School. He retired his post as headmaster in 1916, but kept a lasting interest in the school.
During his 16-year stay at CRGS, student numbers increased from 29 to 180 boys under his guidance, particularly through the introduction of day pupils. Shaw Jeffrey is also credited with the introduction of many changes at the school, including the introduction of purple blazer
s, the setting up of the Old Colcestrian Society for former boys (and quite often honoured former masters), a preparatory school
, a cadet corps, an orchestra, a bugle band and a series of school entertainments and theatrical performances, and the acquisition of several buildings on behalf of the school. He was a national pioneer of the teaching of modern European languages through phonetics, employed language teachers from Germany and France, and set up arrangements for foreign study during holidays.
Whilst at CRGS he founded the school magazine, The Colcestrian, designed to relay information about the school to students, ex-students and parents on a regular basis. This ran for over sixty consecutive years, and has recently been restarted in a similar style. Even after he left the school, he wrote into the magazine, adding his own memories, thoughts and opinions on articles of news published. He often signed himself off as "J", "an abbreviation that was and is commonly used in reference to him" throughout his time at CRGS and as synonymous with the man himself that it could be used for an article about his death in the local newspaper
.
In recognition of his achievements at the school, a school house
was named after him in 1950. The change from School House to Shaw Jeffrey's House completed a quartet
that had featured three other notable headmasters of the school since Shaw Jeffrey himself introduced the four-house system in 1908. The house is still informally known by students as J's. Another tribute, a painting of him by Frank Daniell, a Colchester artist, was presented to him on his retirement by the Governors of CRGS and members of the Old Colcestrian Society and a replica was initially to be hung in the school hall;. it was, however, the replica that was taken by Shaw Jeffrey and the original hung in the school, where it remains.
of what was later deemed to be paranormal activity at Borley Rectory
. In 1885 he spent time at the rectory with his friend Henry (Harry) Bull with whom he was studying at Oxford, during which he experienced "lots of small adventures at the Rectory. Stones falling about, my boots found on top of the wardrobe, etc." He also stated that he had seen the nun who was supposed to haunt the rectory several times and had often heard the ghostly coach during the night. In his view, however, the most striking of the phenomena, which he later recounted to the researcher and author on the subject Harry Price
, was the loss of a French dictionary which was later thrown on the floor of his bedroom in the night.
Price regarded Shaw Jeffrey's testimonies as an "important contribution to the evidence for the early haunting of Borley Rectory", and used them in many of the studies which made the rectory famous in 1937. However, due to the time difference been events and their reporting over 50 years later, they have been challenged as unreliable.
, Longmans and the Boy's Own Paper
.
His first book, however, came with Useful Facts in Physiology (Educational Supply Association) in 1889. Later, having settled down at CRGS, he used his spare time to publish Elementary German Words and Phrases for Red Cross Workers and Elementary French Words and Phrases for Red Cross Workers (both Hachette) in 1914. They were endorsed by Queen Alexandra
and spawned over 50,000 copies. Over the course of his life he adapted and authored several foreign-language works for English audiences, namely:
In 1923 he published another non-fiction book, Whitby Lore and Legend, having retired to Whitby
via South Africa. A Schoolmaster's Apologia: Memories of Eighty Years was his collection of memoirs, published by Abbey Press, Whitby, in 1948. His time at CRGS is documented in his 1948 collaboration, Some Chapters in the History of the Royal Grammar School Colchester, with the one time Mayor of Colchester, Sir William Gurney Benham, who was a personal friend of Shaw Jeffrey and first President
of the Old Colcestrian Society.
After retirement, Shaw Jeffrey could also give time to his love of travelling, and authored a number of related titles. Round the World with an Empress and Round the world with the 'Empress of Britain (both Ed. J. Burrow) were accounts of the trips he made while lecturing on board the liners of Canadian Pacific Railway
during the British winter; a series dubbed The Little Travel Books (Horne) documented others of his travels, and grew out of articles he wrote for the Whitby Gazette
. They included:
A selection of these books he later sent to Princess Elizabeth
and Princess Margaret
, who were said to have enjoyed them.
Despite retirement from any sort of career, Shaw Jeffrey maintained that he "had no intention of leading an idle life" and was variously an inspector and examiner
for both the University of Cambridge
and the University of London
and an assessor for all of Cambridge's French papers for five years after the introduction of the higher certificate
. He was also an occasional inspector in modern languages for the Board of Education
and deputised as professor of French at the University of Durham while the professor himself was incapacitated due to illness. He was an assessor of all modern language papers set at Durham for five years. He continued to fill in positions inspecting in Spanish and Italian, despite only having learned the languages during his travels.
Although he spent barely 10 or 12 weeks in any one year in Whitby, he was still attached to it. Shortly before his death he published A Haunt of Ancient Peace, a history of Bagdale Old Hall (with Sir D'Arcy Power, KBE), and also made several large donations: £3000 to Whitby Parish Church, £2000 to the museum and £500 to the Whitby Literary and Philosophy Society.
Shaw Jeffrey died on Friday, 22 February 1952, leaving Alice as a widow. The couple had just celebrated their golden wedding anniversary
, a fact reported in the Essex County Standard
, along with a short obituary, and an overview of the latest Old Colcestrian annual meeting (held only a day after his death), at which a variety of tributes had been paid. The article describes him as "one of Colchester's most famous headmasters" and one with "tons of personality." His death was particularly poignant for members of CRGS, for it came two days before a World War Two war memorial
, for which he and his wife had contributed the majority of the money, was to be unveiled and dedicated
. On her death, his wife left their house in Whitby to the Whitby Literary and Philosophy Society, though efforts to turn it into a museum
were ultimately unsuccessful.
Royal Geographical Society
The Royal Geographical Society is a British learned society founded in 1830 for the advancement of geographical sciences...
(14 March 1862 – 22 February 1952) was a respected schoolmaster and author of several books on a range of topics, including significant contributions towards the teaching of phonetics
Phonetics
Phonetics is a branch of linguistics that comprises the study of the sounds of human speech, or—in the case of sign languages—the equivalent aspects of sign. It is concerned with the physical properties of speech sounds or signs : their physiological production, acoustic properties, auditory...
in schools. Born in Cheltenham
Cheltenham
Cheltenham , also known as Cheltenham Spa, is a large spa town and borough in Gloucestershire, on the edge of the Cotswolds in the South-West region of England. It is the home of the flagship race of British steeplechase horse racing, the Gold Cup, the main event of the Cheltenham Festival held...
, Gloucestershire
Gloucestershire
Gloucestershire is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn, and the entire Forest of Dean....
, United Kingdom
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was the formal name of the United Kingdom during the period when what is now the Republic of Ireland formed a part of it....
to Thomas Ashby Jeffrey, a chemist, and Mary Helen Jeffrey (née Sparrow), he taught at a variety of schools before spending sixteen years as headmaster at Colchester Royal Grammar School
Colchester Royal Grammar School
Colchester Royal Grammar School is a grammar school in Colchester, Essex, founded in AD 1206 and granted two Royal Charters by Henry VIII and by Elizabeth I .-Admissions:...
. With his wife Alice, he retired first to South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
, then to the town of Whitby
Whitby
Whitby is a seaside town, port and civil parish in the Scarborough borough of North Yorkshire, England. Situated on the east coast of Yorkshire at the mouth of the River Esk, Whitby has a combined maritime, mineral and tourist heritage, and is home to the ruins of Whitby Abbey where Caedmon, the...
, North Yorkshire, in 1916, where he spent his time between numerous trips to countries around the world.
Early life
Shaw Jeffrey grew up with his parents, Thomas Ashby Jeffrey, a chemist, and Mary Helen Jeffrey (née Sparrow), in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, and with his younger siblings Ada Constance, Russell Henry, Ethel Maude and Amy Louise. For three years from 1875, he attended Trent CollegeTrent College
Trent College is a co-educational, HMC independent day and boarding school. There are 760 pupils in the Senior School and 330 pupils in the Junior School, The Elms School...
, Long Eaton
Long Eaton
Long Eaton is a town in Derbyshire, England. It lies just north of the River Trent about southwest of Nottingham and is part of the Nottingham Urban Area...
, where he rose to become "Head of the School, proxime accessit [runner up] for the Duke of Devonshire's Gold Medal, with first-class honours in the Cambridge Local, third in the list in Latin and distinguished in French".
Early teaching career
Whilst reading for a maths scholarship at the University of Marburg, he was offered the chance to work at Trent College, unofficially, as first the headmaster's private secretary, and then as a teacher. Unfortunately, he was unable to win the Marburg scholarship in 1881, and, left unemployed after the death of the Headmaster the year after, he took up a post as a junior master at Emanuel SchoolEmanuel School
Emanuel School is a co-educational independent school in Battersea, south-west London. The school was founded by Lady Dacre and Elizabeth I in 1594. Today it has some 710 pupils, aged between ten and eighteen.-History:...
, Wandsworth
Wandsworth
Wandsworth is a district of south London, England, in the London Borough of Wandsworth. It is situated southwest of Charing Cross. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London.-Toponymy:...
, soon after its move to new premises. On 30 January 1884, he matriculated into the University of Oxford
University of Oxford
The University of Oxford is a university located in Oxford, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest surviving university in the world and the oldest in the English-speaking world. Although its exact date of foundation is unclear, there is evidence of teaching as far back as 1096...
as a member of The Queen's College
The Queen's College, Oxford
The Queen's College, founded 1341, is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. Queen's is centrally situated on the High Street, and is renowned for its 18th-century architecture...
, where he completed a Bachelor of Arts Degree in 1887 and was granted his MA in 1890. He was disappointed to receive a degree with only third-class honours, however, and was advised to put any ambition of teaching on hold—advice which he did not follow.
After a brief spell teaching at Christ's College, Finchley, for six months during 1887, Shaw Jeffrey became an assistant mathematics and science master at The Skinners' School
The Skinners' School
The Skinners' School , is a British grammar school for boys located in the town of Royal Tunbridge Wells, Kent...
, Royal Tunbridge Wells
Royal Tunbridge Wells
Royal Tunbridge Wells is a town in west Kent, England, about south-east of central London by road, by rail. The town is close to the border of the county of East Sussex...
, whilst simultaneously studying for an Inter Bachelor of Science
Bachelor of Science
A Bachelor of Science is an undergraduate academic degree awarded for completed courses that generally last three to five years .-Australia:In Australia, the BSc is a 3 year degree, offered from 1st year on...
, with first class honours. Whilst at Skinners' he published words he had written for the school song, set to music by Cuthbert H. Cronk, which persist to the present day. Although it was not his initial intention, in 1893 he took up a post as private tutor to a student he had been coaching at The Skinners' School
The Skinners' School
The Skinners' School , is a British grammar school for boys located in the town of Royal Tunbridge Wells, Kent...
and travelled to Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
with him.
Upon his return and owing to a shortage of officers
Officer (armed forces)
An officer is a member of an armed force or uniformed service who holds a position of authority. Commissioned officers derive authority directly from a sovereign power and, as such, hold a commission charging them with the duties and responsibilities of a specific office or position...
, a short diversion from his teaching duties during 1893 saw Shaw Jeffrey join the Volunteer battalion of the Royal West Kent Regiment. Unable to afford a new uniform (then costing £80), after a change in regiment apparel to a much more popular red-with-light-blue colour scheme, he was forced to resign his commission later that year.
In 1894 he took up another post, this time to become a holiday modern-languages tutor (a well paid position) to the son of Sir Thomas and Lady Glen-Coats, Thomas Glen-Coats, later to compete at the 1908 Olympics. Putting his schoolmaster plans aside, he travelled with them to France, and the next year to Germany, where both enrolled at the University of Marburg. Once Glen-Coats was "safely... installed at Merton College, Oxford
Merton College, Oxford
Merton College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. Its foundation can be traced back to the 1260s when Walter de Merton, chancellor to Henry III and later to Edward I, first drew up statutes for an independent academic community and established endowments to...
," Shaw Jeffrey returned to the university to study for a Phil.Doc., but, shortly before completing the degree in 1897, he was persuaded by the Dean
Dean (education)
In academic administration, a dean is a person with significant authority over a specific academic unit, or over a specific area of concern, or both...
of Queen's College to take up a position at Clifton College
Clifton College
Clifton College is a co-educational independent school in Clifton, Bristol, England, founded in 1862. In its early years it was notable for emphasising science in the curriculum, and for being less concerned with social elitism, e.g. by admitting day-boys on equal terms and providing a dedicated...
, Bristol
Bristol
Bristol is a city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, with an estimated population of 433,100 for the unitary authority in 2009, and a surrounding Larger Urban Zone with an estimated 1,070,000 residents in 2007...
.
Headmaster at Colchester Royal Grammar School
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
by the educationalist Michael Ernest Sadler
Michael Ernest Sadler
Sir Michael Ernest Sadler KCSI was a British historian, educationalist and university administrator. He worked at the universities of Manchester and Leeds. He was a champion of the public school system.-Early life and education:...
, but could not get the funding to travel there, instead he assumed the role of Headmaster at Colchester Royal Grammar School
Colchester Royal Grammar School
Colchester Royal Grammar School is a grammar school in Colchester, Essex, founded in AD 1206 and granted two Royal Charters by Henry VIII and by Elizabeth I .-Admissions:...
(known locally as CRGS). It is unclear exactly what date he can be said to have joined the school, because although agreement between the school and the governing legislature was reached in May 1899, the process of finding a new headmaster went on under the guidance of an interim
Interim
Interim is an album by British rock band The Fall, compiled from live and studio material and released in 2004. It features the first officially released versions of "Clasp Hands", "Blindness" and "What About Us?" — all of which were later included on the band's next studio album Fall Heads Roll —...
one. Certainly, his official term as headmaster started on 1 September 1900 and by the end of 1900 he had already made his mark on the school—achievements included the introduction of a new school song, Carmen Colchestriense, which used the same tune as, and a variation of the lyrics for, the school song of The Skinners' School. He retired his post as headmaster in 1916, but kept a lasting interest in the school.
During his 16-year stay at CRGS, student numbers increased from 29 to 180 boys under his guidance, particularly through the introduction of day pupils. Shaw Jeffrey is also credited with the introduction of many changes at the school, including the introduction of purple blazer
Blazer
A blazer is a type of jacket. The term blazer occasionally is synonymous with boating jacket and sports jacket, two different garments. A blazer resembles a suit coat cut more casually — sometimes with flap-less patch pockets and metal buttons. A blazer's cloth is usually durable , because it is an...
s, the setting up of the Old Colcestrian Society for former boys (and quite often honoured former masters), a preparatory school
Preparatory school (UK)
In English language usage in the former British Empire, the present-day Commonwealth, a preparatory school is an independent school preparing children up to the age of eleven or thirteen for entry into fee-paying, secondary independent schools, some of which are known as public schools...
, a cadet corps, an orchestra, a bugle band and a series of school entertainments and theatrical performances, and the acquisition of several buildings on behalf of the school. He was a national pioneer of the teaching of modern European languages through phonetics, employed language teachers from Germany and France, and set up arrangements for foreign study during holidays.
Whilst at CRGS he founded the school magazine, The Colcestrian, designed to relay information about the school to students, ex-students and parents on a regular basis. This ran for over sixty consecutive years, and has recently been restarted in a similar style. Even after he left the school, he wrote into the magazine, adding his own memories, thoughts and opinions on articles of news published. He often signed himself off as "J", "an abbreviation that was and is commonly used in reference to him" throughout his time at CRGS and as synonymous with the man himself that it could be used for an article about his death in the local newspaper
Newspaper
A newspaper is a scheduled publication containing news of current events, informative articles, diverse features and advertising. It usually is printed on relatively inexpensive, low-grade paper such as newsprint. By 2007, there were 6580 daily newspapers in the world selling 395 million copies a...
.
In recognition of his achievements at the school, a school house
House system
The house system is a traditional feature of British schools, and schools in the Commonwealth. Historically, it was associated with established public schools, where a 'house' refers to a boarding house or dormitory of a boarding school...
was named after him in 1950. The change from School House to Shaw Jeffrey's House completed a quartet
Quartet
In music, a quartet is a method of instrumentation , used to perform a musical composition, and consisting of four parts.-Western art music:...
that had featured three other notable headmasters of the school since Shaw Jeffrey himself introduced the four-house system in 1908. The house is still informally known by students as J's. Another tribute, a painting of him by Frank Daniell, a Colchester artist, was presented to him on his retirement by the Governors of CRGS and members of the Old Colcestrian Society and a replica was initially to be hung in the school hall;. it was, however, the replica that was taken by Shaw Jeffrey and the original hung in the school, where it remains.
Visits to Borley Rectory
Shaw Jeffrey was the first known witnessWitness
A witness is someone who has firsthand knowledge about an event, or in the criminal justice systems usually a crime, through his or her senses and can help certify important considerations about the crime or event. A witness who has seen the event first hand is known as an eyewitness...
of what was later deemed to be paranormal activity at Borley Rectory
Borley Rectory
Borley Rectory was a Victorian era mansion located in the village of Borley, Essex, England. It was constructed in 1863, on the site of a previous rectory, and destroyed by fire in 1939....
. In 1885 he spent time at the rectory with his friend Henry (Harry) Bull with whom he was studying at Oxford, during which he experienced "lots of small adventures at the Rectory. Stones falling about, my boots found on top of the wardrobe, etc." He also stated that he had seen the nun who was supposed to haunt the rectory several times and had often heard the ghostly coach during the night. In his view, however, the most striking of the phenomena, which he later recounted to the researcher and author on the subject Harry Price
Harry Price
Harry Price was a British psychic researcher and author.-Early life:Although Price claimed his birth was in Shropshire, he was actually born in London in Red Lion Square on the site of the South Place Ethical Society's Conway Hall. He was educated in New Cross, first at Waller Road Infants School...
, was the loss of a French dictionary which was later thrown on the floor of his bedroom in the night.
Price regarded Shaw Jeffrey's testimonies as an "important contribution to the evidence for the early haunting of Borley Rectory", and used them in many of the studies which made the rectory famous in 1937. However, due to the time difference been events and their reporting over 50 years later, they have been challenged as unreliable.
Publications
Shaw Jeffrey was particularly at home with modern languages, having become fluent in both French and German in the 1890s, and lectured on the topic and how it should be taught–phonetically, in his opinion. Later on, he authored more works relating to education, including the Work and Progress Record Book (Arnold) and The Schools of England (Ed. J. Burrow). He was also a contributor to the Argosy and other London periodicals, including the English Illustrated MagazineEnglish Illustrated Magazine
The English Illustrated Magazine was a monthly publication that ran for 359 issues between October 1883 and August 1913. Features included travel, topography, and a large amount of fiction and were contributed by writers such as Thomas Hardy, Henry James, Stanley J. Weyman and Max Pemberton...
, Longmans and the Boy's Own Paper
Boy's Own Paper
The Boy's Own Paper was a British story paper aimed at young and teenage boys, published from 1879 to 1967.-Publishing history:The idea for the publication was first raised in 1878 by the Religious Tract Society as a means to encourage younger children to read and also instil Christian morals...
.
His first book, however, came with Useful Facts in Physiology (Educational Supply Association) in 1889. Later, having settled down at CRGS, he used his spare time to publish Elementary German Words and Phrases for Red Cross Workers and Elementary French Words and Phrases for Red Cross Workers (both Hachette) in 1914. They were endorsed by Queen Alexandra
Alexandra of Denmark
Alexandra of Denmark was the wife of Edward VII of the United Kingdom...
and spawned over 50,000 copies. Over the course of his life he adapted and authored several foreign-language works for English audiences, namely:
- The Study of Colloquial and Literary French, With notes on the present state of modern language teaching, etc. A joint work with his Professor at the University of Marburg, Eduard KoschwitzEduard KoschwitzEduard Koschwitz was a Romance philologist, born at Breslau. In 1877 he became docent at Strassburg and afterward was made professor at Greifswald and Marburg. His specialty was French and Occitan...
; - Ausgewaelte Marchen (Published 1902, by Whittaker), an adaptation of a story from Ludwig BechsteinLudwig BechsteinLudwig Bechstein was a German writer and collector of folk fairy tales.He was born in Weimar, the illegitimate child of Johanna Carolina Dorothea Bechstein and Hubert Dupontreau, a French emigrant who disappeared even before the birth of the child, and Ludwig thus grew up his first nine years in...
's Deutsches Märchenbuch, with added introduction and notes. - Au Pôle en ballon from the French original by Victor Patrice;
- Poucinet. (Conte finlandais) from the French original by Édouard René and Lefebvre Laboulaye.
- Short passages for translation into French and German (Oxford University Press)
In 1923 he published another non-fiction book, Whitby Lore and Legend, having retired to Whitby
Whitby
Whitby is a seaside town, port and civil parish in the Scarborough borough of North Yorkshire, England. Situated on the east coast of Yorkshire at the mouth of the River Esk, Whitby has a combined maritime, mineral and tourist heritage, and is home to the ruins of Whitby Abbey where Caedmon, the...
via South Africa. A Schoolmaster's Apologia: Memories of Eighty Years was his collection of memoirs, published by Abbey Press, Whitby, in 1948. His time at CRGS is documented in his 1948 collaboration, Some Chapters in the History of the Royal Grammar School Colchester, with the one time Mayor of Colchester, Sir William Gurney Benham, who was a personal friend of Shaw Jeffrey and first President
President
A president is a leader of an organization, company, trade union, university, or country.Etymologically, a president is one who presides, who sits in leadership...
of the Old Colcestrian Society.
After retirement, Shaw Jeffrey could also give time to his love of travelling, and authored a number of related titles. Round the World with an Empress and Round the world with the 'Empress of Britain (both Ed. J. Burrow) were accounts of the trips he made while lecturing on board the liners of Canadian Pacific Railway
Canadian Pacific Railway
The Canadian Pacific Railway , formerly also known as CP Rail between 1968 and 1996, is a historic Canadian Class I railway founded in 1881 and now operated by Canadian Pacific Railway Limited, which began operations as legal owner in a corporate restructuring in 2001...
during the British winter; a series dubbed The Little Travel Books (Horne) documented others of his travels, and grew out of articles he wrote for the Whitby Gazette
Whitby Gazette
The Whitby Gazette is an English provincial newspaper published in Whitby, North Yorkshire.It was founded 6 January 1854 by Ralph Horne, a local printer, bookseller, stationer, bookbinder, paperhanger and shipowner, who was also a member of the Whitby Literary and Philosophical Society...
. They included:
- Black and White in South Africa
- Sunshine on the Waters(Australia and New Zealand)
- Eastward to the Cape.
- Sidelights-South African Roundabout.
- Third Time Lucky (South Africa).
- Columbus Calling (West Indies).
A selection of these books he later sent to Princess Elizabeth
Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom
Elizabeth II is the constitutional monarch of 16 sovereign states known as the Commonwealth realms: the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Jamaica, Barbados, the Bahamas, Grenada, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Belize,...
and Princess Margaret
Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon
Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon was the younger sister of Queen Elizabeth II and the younger daughter of King George VI....
, who were said to have enjoyed them.
Later life and death
On 13 August 1901, only shortly after becoming headmaster at CRGS, Shaw Jeffrey married his wife Alice, whom he had met on a Mediterranean cruise, and who stayed at the school throughout his time there. On his retirement, they moved to South Africa, where he did "valuable works on the Press for the Allied cause". From 1914 onwards they also had possession of Whitby's Bagdale Old Hall, built in 1530, as a residence, and eventually took residence there on his return from South Africa, though they were often away travelling.Despite retirement from any sort of career, Shaw Jeffrey maintained that he "had no intention of leading an idle life" and was variously an inspector and examiner
Examiner
The Examiner was a weekly paper founded by Leigh and John Hunt in 1808. For the first fifty years it was a leading intellectual journal expounding radical principles, but from 1865 it repeatedly changed hands and political allegiance, resulting in a rapid decline in readership and loss of...
for both the University of Cambridge
University of Cambridge
The University of Cambridge is a public research university located in Cambridge, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest university in both the United Kingdom and the English-speaking world , and the seventh-oldest globally...
and the University of London
University of London
-20th century:Shortly after 6 Burlington Gardens was vacated, the University went through a period of rapid expansion. Bedford College, Royal Holloway and the London School of Economics all joined in 1900, Regent's Park College, which had affiliated in 1841 became an official divinity school of the...
and an assessor for all of Cambridge's French papers for five years after the introduction of the higher certificate
Higher Certificate
The Higher Certificate is an award that has replaced the National Certificate in the Republic of Ireland The Higher Certificate is awarded by various Institutes of Technology...
. He was also an occasional inspector in modern languages for the Board of Education
Board of education
A board of education or a school board or school committee is the title of the board of directors or board of trustees of a school, local school district or higher administrative level....
and deputised as professor of French at the University of Durham while the professor himself was incapacitated due to illness. He was an assessor of all modern language papers set at Durham for five years. He continued to fill in positions inspecting in Spanish and Italian, despite only having learned the languages during his travels.
Although he spent barely 10 or 12 weeks in any one year in Whitby, he was still attached to it. Shortly before his death he published A Haunt of Ancient Peace, a history of Bagdale Old Hall (with Sir D'Arcy Power, KBE), and also made several large donations: £3000 to Whitby Parish Church, £2000 to the museum and £500 to the Whitby Literary and Philosophy Society.
Shaw Jeffrey died on Friday, 22 February 1952, leaving Alice as a widow. The couple had just celebrated their golden wedding anniversary
Wedding anniversary
-Official recognition:In the Commonwealth realms, one can receive a message from the monarch for 60th, 65th, and 70th wedding anniversaries, and any wedding anniversary after that...
, a fact reported in the Essex County Standard
Essex County Standard
The Essex County Standard is a weekly newspaper, published in Colchester, Essex. As of January 2011, it has an average circulation of 16,614 per issue. It is currently owned by the Newsquest Media Group, part of the American Gannett Company.- History :...
, along with a short obituary, and an overview of the latest Old Colcestrian annual meeting (held only a day after his death), at which a variety of tributes had been paid. The article describes him as "one of Colchester's most famous headmasters" and one with "tons of personality." His death was particularly poignant for members of CRGS, for it came two days before a World War Two war memorial
War memorial
A war memorial is a building, monument, statue or other edifice to celebrate a war or victory, or to commemorate those who died or were injured in war.-Historic usage:...
, for which he and his wife had contributed the majority of the money, was to be unveiled and dedicated
Dedication
Dedication is the act of consecrating an altar, temple, church or other sacred building. It also refers to the inscription of books or other artifacts when these are specifically addressed or presented to a particular person. This practice, which once was used to gain the patronage and support of...
. On her death, his wife left their house in Whitby to the Whitby Literary and Philosophy Society, though efforts to turn it into a museum
Museum
A museum is an institution that cares for a collection of artifacts and other objects of scientific, artistic, cultural, or historical importance and makes them available for public viewing through exhibits that may be permanent or temporary. Most large museums are located in major cities...
were ultimately unsuccessful.